Live Like You Were Dying
by GinnyMarie
Summary: Harry decides to live like he was dying, but his girlfriend is not particularly happy about it. :Songfic to Live Like You Were Dying, by Tim McGraw: Hate doing ratings, so dunno if its appropriate. Fluff, maybe?


**Live Like You Were Dying**

_Tricia Marie_

_** He said: "I was in my early forties,"With a lot of life before me,"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.  
"I spent most of the next days,  
"Looking at the x-rays,  
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin' 'bout sweet time."  
I asked him when it sank in,  
That this might really be the real end?  
How's it hit you when you get that kind of news?  
Man whatcha do**_

Staring at the deep brown of his four-poster's ceiling, Harry Potter sighed. He could feel the end coming. He was afraid that he would die. He didn't want to die. He wasn't even eighteen yet. He was scared of death, no matter if it was life's next great adventure. He didn't want to die so young. He still had a full life ahead of him. He wanted to get married, hopefully to Ginny, and have a lot of kids. Seven would be nice, but he couldn't see his girlfriend of a year and a half agreeing to that anytime soon.

He sighed again. He could feel Voldemort getting stronger. There had been many deaths over the past two years, ever since Voldemort moved into the open. Ever since Sirius died… _Don't think about that Harry. It's done.  
_

He sat up suddenly. He walked to his window, deep in thought, the prophecy running through his mind again. Absently, Harry looked over towards the Quidditch pitch. He had a game tomorrow. He didn't want to go, which was odd for he loved Quidditch, but it had become boring lately. Very boring.

_ Life is funny _he thought. _I have been so wrapped up in this damn prophecy that I haven't been living, not really. I might be dead before my eighteenth birthday, and I haven't really been doing anything that is remotely fun. I just might have to change that.  
_

_**An' he said: "I went sky diving  
**_

Harry looked out over the pitch. Ginny was sure to kill him for this, but it didn't matter. To him, it seemed like fun. Sure, he would have to face his girlfriend's wrath later, but that was later, and this was now. Well almost now. He would wait until they were well ahead of the Slytherins, which was bound to happen within moments.

Taking off, Harry felt a rush of excitement. He made sure that his wand was securely up his sleeve and raced into the air, climbing quickly. He was soon a thousand feet up. He knew that he would have to be higher in a while, but this height would be just perfect to hear the commentary done by Seamus Finnegan. Seamus was definitely the best for the job, next to Lee Jordan of course.

Listening carefully, Harry idly scanned the pitch. He was not really looking for the snitch. He was more interested in making sure that the snakes were well behind in points for him to do what he was truly looking forward to.

He stole a glance towards Ginny as she passed the quaffle to Dean. She would bite his head off after this, and he was slightly frightened by the fact, but he knew this would be one of the most exciting things he had ever done.

When the points stood with Gryffindor in the lead 160-0, Harry finally felt it was the right time to go through with his plan. Flicking his wand out whilst climbing to about two thousand, five hundred feet, Harry cast a shield around himself. This prevented anyone from casting a spell on him as he went through with his plan.

Harry smiled down at Ginny. Maybe this was reckless, but he really didn't care at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Harry stored his wand back up his sleeve and jumped off of his _Firebolt._

As he fell, he felt the touch of magic that he was certain meant that Dumbledore was trying to slow his rapid descent. He heard several gasps and yells. He saw Ginny frozen in fear as he passed her. He smiled at her, which evidently she caught as her look grew dark, and her eyes had a fire burning in them.

Rolling onto his stomach, a difficult feat while freefalling, Harry saw that he was somewhere around a thousand feet from the ground. He saw a glint of gold a hundred or so feet below him, so he reached out his hand as he zoomed past. Smiling widely, Harry did his best to hold his hand up in triumph. At about three hundred feet from the ground, Harry pulled his wand and said softly, " _Accio__ Firebolt_."

Two hundred feet from the ground, he caught his broom, and mounted it in mid-air. He then went into a series of feints, grinning madly as he pumped his snitch filled fist into the air.

He landed on the ground, the crowd in a shocked silence. Suddenly he was knocked to the green grass underneath him as something barreled into him. He saw a brief flash of red as his face hit the dirt

Hurricane Ginny had come, and her target was Harry Harbor.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" She screeched at him once he had dislodged himself from the dirt that tasted oh-so-delicious. "HOW DARE YOU! I AM GOING TO HEX YOU INTO NEXT WEEK. I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK." Ginny's voice was the only sound in the entire stadium, and Harry was cowing away from it.

"Ginny…" He tried, but was stopped by a slap to the face. He was not entirely surprised, but everyone else on the pitch evidently was, as there was a collected gasp.

"Don't you dare say that you are sorry. You did that on purpose, and you know it." She said this in a low and dangerous voice, which scared Harry more than her yelling. She stalked off the pitch, headed straight for the girls' Gryffindor locker room. He lay there for a few moments, the silence around him reminding him partially of a dementor's affects.

Someone was suddenly lifting him. He looked up and saw a very worried Dumbledore, and at his side was a frantic Madame Pomfrey. She came up to him and started fussing. Soon Professor McGonagall joined them, worry and relief on her face.

"Harry," started Dumbledore, "how did you fall off your broom?"

Harry was busy waving off Madame Pomfrey's attempts to make sure that he didn't break anything. Finally, after several moments, he said, "Madame Pomfrey, I am fine. No pain." He turned to Dumbledore, a huge smile on his face, "I didn't fall off my broom professor," Harry's smile grew as the worry on the adults' faces morphed into confusion. "I jumped."

With that, Harry turned on his heel, a smile not leaving his features, and walked towards the locker room, leaving three very shocked people in his wake.

_** I went rocky mountain climbing **_

A week after his stunt, Ginny had finally forgiven Harry. This, however, was only after her yelling at him in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room.

Ginny was on her way up to the castle from Care of Magical Creatures when she noticed several people pointing towards the Astronomy Tower, frozen where they stood.

"Elaine, what's going on?" she asked as she came up besides her dorm mate. Elaine just pointed, finally causing Ginny to look in the direction of the tower. Her blood froze. She was going to kill him. There was no doubt about it. He was a dead man, and she was going to do it, no matter the prophecy.

There, scaling the highest tower of Hogwarts Castle, was Harry Potter.

"What in Merlin's name is he doing?" Ginny raged. Several people tore their gazes from the Boy-Who-Lived to look at her. They smiled slightly, knowing that Harry was going to be facing the fiery redhead as soon as she made sure he was safe.

By this time, Harry had reached the battlements of the tower. He looked out over the grounds and groaned. There was a crowd down there, and he could just make out long red hair at the front of it.

"Well, it's now or never, Potter," he said to himself, knowing he was incurring Ginny's wrath yet again. He attached the tether to himself, stood up on the top of the battlement, and jumped. He couldn't thank Merlin enough that he had decided to put cushioning charms on the castle walls on his way up. He did end up hitting them, but thanks to the charms, it didn't hurt.

Ginny watched in abject horror as her boyfriend, the love of her life, jumped off the tower, nothing more than a rope keeping him from falling to his death.

"He is so dead," she hissed. She saw him somehow lower himself to the ground and made her way towards him.

"Mr. Potter, what were you thinking?!" Ginny heard her Head of House's voice scold. Paying the professor no mind, the redhead marched right up to Harry, and slapped him. McGonagall looked on, and smiled slightly. "I see that no punishment is needed. Whatever Miss Weasley does is far worse than what I could do. Good day."

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" shrieked the redhead, causing Harry to flinch slightly. "HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY MENTAL? FIRST YOU JUMP OFF YOUR BROOM, THEN YOU CLIMB THE ASTRONOMY TOWER, AND JUMP OFF OF IT, THE ONLY THING SAVING YOUR LIFE BEING A PIECE OF ROPE. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? EXPLAIN!"

Harry stared at his girlfriend, deciding just to answer, and let her hex him. "I was bungee-jumping. And climbing the tower was really fun."

She glared at him, "Bungee-jumping? What the bloody hell is that?"

"It's a muggle thing. They usually jump off bridges using a bungee, or tether. Gin, you should try it, it's really fun," He knew it was coming before she even pulled her wand. He knew that was not the smartest thing to say, but he would rather get the punishment over with early rather than later. He heard her mutter her famous Bat-Bogey hex, and soon his face was crawling with his bogeys, in the form of bats. He watched her stalk off through his hands covering his face. He smiled slightly and went to work on throwing off the curse.

_**"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.**_

Okay, he knew that after this, Ginny was probably never going to talk to him again, but he wanted to do this. He kind of liked living on the dangerous side, as long as Voldemort wasn't the thing that was dangerous.

He had talked to Hagrid. Much like his first year, Hagrid accidentally told Harry what he wanted to know. So now, Harry Potter was on his way to the edge of the forest, where he would find what he wanted. Ginny would kill him if she found out, which was why he was doing this stunt out of her sight.

He finally came to the place where Hagrid said he kept it. He smiled as the creature opened its eyes, sensing Harry.

Currently, Ginny had no idea where Harry was, and it worried her. He had been acting weird lately, not counting his death defying stunts. She had asked Ron and Hermione if they had noticed, and they said that they had. He was starting to worry her, and she was afraid he was going to get himself killed.

"Have you seen Harry?" she questioned Ron and Hermione.

"Nope, but you could check the map." Ginny nodded and ran up the boy's dormitory stairs and retrieved the Marauders' Map from her boyfriend's trunk. She didn't activate it until she had rejoined Ron and Hermione in the Common Room.

"He's in the forest," said Ginny as she sat down next to them. "With someone named…'_Fluffy?'_ It's a big dot. Do either of you know who _'Fluffy' _is?"

Ron and Hermione shared a look that said they indeed knew who 'Fluffy' was. "He wouldn't," whispered Hermione.

"I don't know, he might. Look what he's done so far. I mean, jumping off a broom: scaling and bungee jumping from the Astronomy Tower. It is right thick of him to do it though, as Ginny won't be happy," answered Ron. Ginny looked on in confusion, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What wouldn't he do?" she asked finally. Ron and Hermione started, forgetting, obviously that she was there.

"Oh…erm…" tried Hermione reluctantly. Ginevra Molly Weasley was not going to be happy when she found out what Harry James Potter was doing at that very moment.

"Hermione…" Ginny's voice was low and dangerous, having a warning tone underlying it. The bushy-haired witch caved in almost immediately and started to explain who 'Fluffy' was. As soon as she had heard the words 'three-headed dog,' Ginny was up off the sofa and making her way towards the portrait hole in very lengthy strides, that were full of purpose and rage. Ron and Hermione had to run to keep up with the younger girl.

The three reached the edge of the forest in less than ten minutes, a record. They walked swiftly towards the place that marked where Fluffy and Harry were, Ginny's hair flying around her shoulders as the magic leaking off her body infused it.

The three soon found the object of their objection. Ginny fumed even more as she saw her boyfriend on the back of a three-headed dog. The dog was going mad, trying to throw Harry off its back, and not succeeding.

A few minutes later, Harry took out his wand and conjured a harp, which then began to play softly, causing the dog to go slack. He jumped down from the neck, a smile on his face. That, however, faded the instant he caught sight of his Ginny. He groaned audibly.

"Harry," Ginny began in a false sweet voice, "what were you just doing?"

"Well, Gin, you see, I erm…I…I was having a go on Fluffy," answered Harry sheepishly.

"And why were you doing that, love of mine?" the sweetness in her voice was starting to get to him, and he wished she would just yell and hex him.

"It…sounded like a good idea."

"I see." Ginny took a deep breath before she started speaking again, this time in a deadly tone. "Harry James Potter, you are in so much trouble. Have you gone completely off your trolley? Are you mental, honestly? Are you trying to kill me? Are you?"

"No, Gin, I…" what ever he was going to say was cut off by his receiving a hex straight in the face. Bat-bogey. That caught him off guard, as he hadn't expected her to hex him so soon.

"When you have decided to not act like a raving lunatic, come and see me. Until then, Potter, I don't want to see your face." Ginny Weasley then stalked off, angry tears falling from her eyes as she did so.

_**And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter **_

"Ginny," called Harry as he ran after her. "GINNY!"

He had given Ginny her space. Allowed her to cool off, and now he was chasing her down the corridor of the fifth floor. He put on a burst of speed, and grabbed her arm a he came up behind her.

"Ginny, I am so sorry," he said sincerely. She looked at him dubiously.

"Are you quite done being Mr. Daredevil?" she asked, her tone hurt and angry.

"Yes, I need to talk to you though. Please, follow me." She was still looking at him, suspicion written all over her face. "I promise, I am done with the whole dangerous stunts thing. I promise, just come with me and I will explain. Please, Gin."

"Fine, but this had better be good." She followed him up to the Seventh Floor corridor, the one that held the Room of Requirement. He walked in front of the tapestry three times, having a door appear after the third time.

As the two of them made their way in, Ginny couldn't help but goggle at the beauty of the room. Lilies, Ginny's favorite flower, covered practically every inch of it: white ones, yellow ones, and red ones. In the middle of the room, a table was set for two, with a single candle atop it. She smiled in spite of herself as Harry helped her into her chair.

"Harry?"

"I am so sorry. I just want to make it up to you and explain everything that has been going through my mind. Is that alright?" He asked. She nodded, her eyes still combing the room. As he sat down, a tray appeared, on it all of Ginny's favorite foods. She smiled again. "Do you mind eating before I tell you what's been going on with me?" She shook her head as he served her.

They talked on light subjects as they ate. As soon as they had finished the dinner part, Harry stood up, and motioned for Ginny to do the same. She smiled, yet again, in spite of herself. Sometimes he could be just so romantic. A loveseat appeared in the corner of the room as the table and chairs disappeared. He led her over to it, making sure she was sitting before sitting himself.

"Harry?"

"Okay, well you see, I…er…was thinking the night before the Quidditch match," he began. "I wasn't even excited about it; it had become boring to me, for some reason. I started thinking about the Prophecy and how I was likely to die before my next birthday," at this he had to hold his hand up, seeing Ginny open her mouth to protest. "I could die, Gin, and I don't want to, so I…er…came up with this plan to do a few things before I went into the Final Battle. I wanted to have a little fun, you know? Sure, some of the stuff I did was stupid, but it was fun at the time, and that's what I wanted to do. I knew you would try to stop me at every opportunity, so I didn't tell you. I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to live a bit, you know? I am so, so sorry, Gin. I really didn't think how you would react, I suppose."

She looked thoughtful, and finally nodded, seemingly making up her mind. "Fine. I can forgive you this, and only this, once, provided that," she stopped to put her finger to his chest, so that he would get the message, "you, Mr. Potter, never do anything like what you have done in the past month again. Ever. It about killed me on the spot, seeing you fall off your broom." She took a breath and visibly deflated, leaning against him. "I love you, Harry James Potter, I don't know why, but I do."

"I love you too, Ginevra Molly Weasley, but there's one more thing I have to discuss with you." He stood from his spot and smiled as she looked at him curiously. She sat up as he loomed over her. Suddenly, her face had a shocked look on it as he dropped to one knee.

"Ginny, you are my everything. My only thing. I love you with every fiber of my mind, body, soul, heart, everything. I love you with my everything. Every time you come into the room, I can't help but smile, because you light it up. Even when you're angry, you make me happy. It doesn't exactly hurt, either, that youre dead sexy when your eyes alight with fire, and you get that outraged look on your face." He paused, pulling something from his pocket. "You make everywhere you are, where I want to be. Ginny Weasley, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have a bunch of little redheads walking around, making mischief like their mother. I want to grow old with you, to have grandchildren with you. I want to marry you. Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you be my wife?"

Tears were pouring down Ginny's face, and they only increased when he opened the box in his hands, revealing a modest diamond, with rubies and peridot stones. She smiled slightly. The ring was perfect, having both their birthstones adorning the outer edges.

"Yes, Harry, yes. Yes. Yes!" she whispered as she flung her arms around his neck, kissing him hard and passionately, a smile on her lips. As she pulled away, she looked at him expectantly. "Well, give me my ring." She said forcefully. He laughed as he opened the ring box again, and slowly slid it onto her left ring finger. She smiled again and kissed him once more. Their kiss soon became deep, their tongues fighting for control of the others mouth, but it was still passionate and loving, as they were pouring all of their love for the other into it.

"I love you," whispered Harry as they separated for air.

"I love you too."

_**And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying.**_

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Come on in, Harry." Harry walked into the Headmasters office, apprehension written all over his features. "What can I do for you, Harry? Lemmon Drop?"

"No, thanks," he denied as he sat down in the chair across from the Headmaster. "I…er…I just…ah hell. Sorry Professor. I suppose I should just get straight to the point. I'm sorry for how I have been treating you since Sirius died. I had no right. You apologized for not telling me of the prophecy, but I didn't really listen." Harry took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Professor Dumbledore, I forgive you for not telling me the prophecy. I know your reasons, and I forgive you."

"I see," said the Headmaster as he popped a Lemmon Drop in his mouth. "May I ask what brought this on, Harry?"

"Well, Professor, there is no doubt that I have been…er…acting, shall we say, a bit like off my rocker lately. I wanted to live a little, because, I'm afraid that I'm going to die, so I have done a few things that could get someone thrown into the brain ward at St. Mungo's." Harry said, looking down the entire time.

"Yes, I have noticed that," remarked Dumbledore. Harry looked up, and noticed the ever-present twinkle in the old man's eyes. "So, your fear of dying has made you forgive me, and do a few stunts that angered Miss Weasley, is that correct?"

"Yeah, pretty much, sir," Harry answered. "Though, Ginny's not angry at me anymore. I told her why I did the things I did and then I…" he mumbled something incoherent, which made the professor inquire as to what he did. He took a deep breath. "I asked Ginny to marry me, sir. As soon as he is gone, we'll be getting married. Assuming I live, but she…er…she told me that if I even thought of leaving her, then she would bring me back to…life…only to kill me again."

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "I have no doubt that Ms. Weasley would accomplish that feat."

"Nor do I, sir, but I don't plan on dying. I want to marry her, and I'm going to," he said.

"Well, I wish you and Ms. Weasley, the future Mrs. Potter, all the best." Dumbledore said as he stood from his desk. He extended his hand, and Harry stood.

"Thank you sir," Harry paused and then he said, "Some day, sir, I hope you get the chance,  
to live like you were dying."

"As do I, Harry, as do I. It would be very interesting." Harry left the office then, his business taken care of, and he made his way to find his fiancé, whom was supposed to be waiting in the Gryffindor Common Room so that the two of them could go flying. As he walked down the corridors, Harry reflected that he was ready. Ready to graduate from the place that had been his home for the last seven years. He was ready to face down Voldemort: to kill the bastard that had ruined his life since he was a year old, perhaps even younger. He was ready to get married to Ginny. He was ready to stop living like he was dying, and just plain live.

"_**He said: "I was in my early forties,  
"With a lot of life before me,  
"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.  
"I spent most of the next days,  
"Looking at the x-rays,  
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin' 'bout sweet time."  
I asked him when it sank in,  
that this might really be the real end?  
How's it hit you when you get that kind of news?  
Man whatcha do?**_

_**An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,  
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.  
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,  
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."  
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,  
"To live like you were dyin'."**_

_**He said "I was finally the husband,  
"That most the time I wasn't.  
"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.  
"And all of a sudden goin' fishin',  
"Wasn't such an imposition,  
"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.  
"Well, I finally read the Good Book,  
"And I took a good long hard look,  
"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,  
"And then:**_

_**"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,  
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.  
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,  
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."  
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,  
"To live like you were dyin'."**_

_**Like tomorrow was a gift,  
and you got eternity,  
to think about what you'd do with it.  
An' what did you do with it?  
An' what can I do with it?  
An' what would I do with it?**_

_**"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,  
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.  
"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,  
"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."  
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,  
"To live like you were dyin'."**_

_**"To live like you were dyin'."  
"To live like you were dyin'."  
"To live like you were dyin'."  
"To live like you were dyin'."**_

_AN: Eh...cant remember who beta-ed or read this. AHHH...posted on SIYE as well...soooooo long ago. Too long ago. Maybe Jen? Sky? One of them, and quite possibly kb as well. I seriously cant remember._

_ Song is Tim McGraw, by the same title as the fic. Hope you enjoyed, and drop a review, please, I would greatly appreciate it._

_ Cheers._

_Tricia Marie (aka, whatever my penname is on this site. AHHH too many pennames, on too many sites!)  
_


End file.
